


Naruto: Story of a Boy and a Girl

by The_Pyromancer



Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-12
Updated: 2014-01-12
Packaged: 2019-03-23 13:43:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13788948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Pyromancer/pseuds/The_Pyromancer
Summary: Healed from his injuries fighting his best friend Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto enjoys his daily life prior to leaving the village on a training journey, never letting on how he really feels inside. Haunted by a secret no one else knows or can understand, he'll have to face his feelings if he wants to advance on his path to becoming Hokage.





	1. Naruko

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Naruto.

* * *

**Chapter 1: Naruko**

* * *

Naruto walked down the cobblestone streets of the city of Konoha, enjoying the brisk morning air. He reached his destination, a small bookstore sandwiched between a dentist office and a high class sushi restaurant. He pushed open the front door, causing a bell attatched to the door to ring. The blond looked at the man sitting at the front counter and smiled.

"Hey Yuuki, how's the family!" asked Naruto cheerfully. The storekeeper just gave his usual noncommittal grunt of acknowledgement at the blond boy's presence. He didn't even look up from the book he was reading as the orange clad ninja walked into the bookstore and past the front counter. Naruto didn't take offense at the lack of greeting. The blonde's pranks hadn't made him very popular throughout the village, but they had made him a household name, which was fine with him.

Naruto walked straight to the magazine section and started to grab up several adult magazines for study. He was working on improving his disguise ninjutsu, especially his sexy no-jutsu, which turned him into a busty woman just like the ones in the magazines. The material would also help to illustrate some points to Konahamaru, who he was teaching. It had been a few weeks since he had fully recovered from his injuries sustained while fighting Sasuke while trying to bring him back to the village. The mission had ended in failure, but that wasn't going to stop him from bringing his friend back to the village. Jiraiya, the perverted sage that he was, was going to take Naruto on a training journey, and they would be leaving in a few days when some arrangements were finished. Naruto had some things to finish up himself before leaving, so the delay was fine with him.

After he had snatched up about four different adult magazines, he looked around to confirm that no one else was nearby. He preferred Yuuki's store because it was kind of on the outskirts of town, near his home and never really packed. It had steady business, enough to stay open, but not enough that customers had to fight through waves of people. The ninja decided to be extra bold today and snatched up two completely different magazines, mixing them in with the others in the pile.

Naruto brought the stack up to the counter and dropped them in front of Yuuki, the spines pointing away from the cashier.

"I apologize for the small haul today, but there were only six that caught my eye," said Naruto, making small talk. Yuuki gave a grunt and ran his hand across the spines, counting. Sure of the number he rang Naruto up for six adult magazines, not even paying attention to what actually made up the pile. The blond handed over the cash, grabbed his change and then left with his stack. Yuuki had actually over charged him, since the two he had snuck in were cheaper than the other four, but the anonymity was worth it. Although getting caught with adult magazines was fine, these…were a different matter.

Naruto made it to the apartment building he lived in, and collecting chakra in his feet, jumped up to the third floor. He landed right in front of his door with a smile on his face. He was glad to be home, and slightly saddened every time he thought about his impending departure from it. He had lived there for most of his life, and it would be weird to go somewhere not knowing if he would return. The blond also had another reason not to want to leave his home: he felt safe there. He unlocked the door and walked inside, looking around. Everything was the same as before the trip to the bookstore, and that was comforting. It was here, that the blonde could be safe. It was here, that she could be herself.

Naruko put the magazines down on her kitchen table. She separated the two fashion and girl's life magazines from the others and took them to her bed to read. The kunoichi then spent the next the next hour reading them thoroughly from cover to cover. She giggled at funny antics, and sighed in longing at the nice clothes. What she envied the most though were the women modeling in the pages. They looked so comfortable with themselves and their bodies; it wasn't a feeling she could say she shared.

The blonde girl sat up in her bed, putting the magazines to the side. She stood up, and concentrating, used a transformation jutsu. When the smoke cleared, she was standing wearing a beautiful orange sleeveless dress. She twirled around and admired the illusion of the fabric following her movements, twirling with her like a princess from a drama. Naruko then walked over to her full length mirror, and admired her own skills. She was getting really good at illusions, and she was happy with the results. The kunoichi ran her slender fingers through her long blonde hair, admiring the golden locks as they flowed down her back. She also thought the subtle bulge of her small, still developing breasts looked natural in the dress.

Naruko gave a rueful smile. Every day, pretending to be something she wasn't. She had felt wrong in her body long before she had created the sexy no jutsu. It had actually been embarrassment at her want to be different that had led to her creating the monstrosity. If she had suddenly started dressing up as a girl, everyone would have treated her more poorly than before, but since everyone already expected her to cause trouble, the jutsu had been a good compromise. It had also been a painful reminder of what she might never have the chance to grow into.

How Naruko imagined herself now was much different then what she showed off the Konohamaru and the perverted old men. A thirteen year old girl, still developing like any other, growing into her womanhood. Getting to wear pretty clothes and to talk for hours with friends about nothing. She closed her eyes and imagined herself without any clothes. Plenty of research had gone into this, even misunderstood peeping missions into woman's locker rooms. Being a prankster had its perks, and the expectation helped to protect her from further scrutiny.

As the image of herself grew in her mind, she felt something wet roll down her cheek. Even more impossible than her dream to become Hokage, how could she ever tell anyone? She was an outcast, only just now making friends with peers and her teachers. She'd need much more respect if she wanted to live her life how it should be.

Naruko opened her eyes and stared at herself in the mirror, determination filling her. If she wanted to be accepted, then she would just need to become Hokage. Tsunade might have taken her spot of first female Hokage, but she didn't care. She respected the woman, and her example told the Blonde that her goal was possible. She would train with Jiraiya, and then save Sasuke from Orochimaru. The kunoichi would return to the village triumphantly, eventually becoming Hokage. And, when that moment happened, then she would be able to show everyone her true form.

Grudgingly dropping her transformation jutsu, Naruko grabbed up her ninja backpack and headed out the door. She hated to leave her sanctuary so soon, but she needed to go train. When she exited the door, she would need to go back to being Naruto, the hated prankster boy. Always cheerful and fighting despite what the world threw at him, never letting on the inner pain she felt. The blond stepped over the doorway, taking one last look inside his room. He squared his shoulders, closed the door and jumped off the balcony, landing with practiced ease three stories down.

"Time to get to work," declared Naruto out loud, running across the village to train.


	2. Jiriya

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Naruto.

* * *

**Chapter 2: Jiriya**

* * *

Jiriya walked casually down the dirt road, his long stride making it difficult for even his energetic new pupil to keep up. He stared down at the boy, studying him. With spiky blond hair, bright blue eyes, a blinding orange outfit and a stupid grin plastered on his face, Naruto always stood out. At face value he was a happy go lucky fool who seemed too dumb to understand failure. Jiriya knew better though. Naruto had a powerful demon called the Kyuubi sealed inside of him and had been hated by his whole village because of it. It had only been recently that he had learned about the demon sealed inside of him as the reason for their hate. But instead of letting it get him down the boy had instead strived to prove himself and change everyone's minds. He didn't let anything bring him down and he never gave up in his goals. Even after his best friend Sasuke had betrayed and nearly killed him Naruto still planned to bring him back to the village as a friend. The older ninja admired his spirit and this training journey they were on was to help him reach his goals.

"Hey Pervy Sage!" said Naruto in his usual loud voice. "When are we going to start training?"

"Soon," assured Jiriya. "We're heading to a nearby town famous for its hot springs first."

"I thought we were going to train not relax!" protested Naruto. "I could take a bath back in Konoha!"

"There's a purpose to this," explained Jiriya calmly. "Before I can train you in more advanced arts we need to make sure you're comfortable in your own body. We'll also get the kinks and crap out of your body. A ninja's body is their greatest resource and weapon."

As he said this, Jiriya saw Naruto's face fall in disappointment, his sunny mood disappearing. Jiriya had expected annoyance from the boy, not genuine depression. The blond boy's response worried him, but before he could question him, the town came into view.

"There it is!" exclaimed Naruto, becoming energetic again. A large smile was on his face, but Jiriya noticed an edge that hadn't been there before. "Let's hurry up and get relaxing then!"

Naruto rushed ahead of Jiriya, making the older ninja feel like he was being ignored and avoided. He had raised many pupils throughout the years, all very different. The person he had met most similar to Naruto wasn't a student though, but Naruto's own mother, Kushina. Jiriya actually knew more about Naruto's past and family history than the boy did. He wondered if the blond boy's dejection was related to the Kyuubi inside of him.

They made it to the town and checked into an inn. The two dropped their stuff off in their room and headed to the hot spring bath. After washing off they entered the warm water, just relaxing for a few minutes. The bath was empty except for the two of them and what sounded like a very large, very active group of giggling young women on the other side of the divider.

Jiriya carefully observed Naruto while pretending to be extremely interested in his own big toe. Even in the relaxing waters the blond boy was tense and on edge. Something was clearly bothering him. The older ninja could tell he wanted to talk about something but was afraid to bring it up. Jiriya knew enough about people to know that sometimes things just needed to be said.

"Is there something on your mind?" asked Jiriya, looking up at Naruto. The boy was startled momentarily, but soon regained his regular grin.

"Nope!" replied the boy with slightly too much cheer. "What makes you think there's something wrong?"

"You've been distracted and tense all day." Jiriya softened his voice and expression. "Don't worry while we're travelling together, if there's ever anything wrong you can tell me."

Naruto's face brightened for a second but he became morose right after.

"I'm not sure I can," replied the boy despondently.

"Sure you can! I already know about the Kyuubi and I honestly admire how well you've managed as it's host!"

"Really?"

"Yeah. You might not have any talent," said Jiriya with a crocked smile, "but you're the most impressive young man I've ever met."

It was apparently the wrong thing to say, as Naruto's face turned into one of the most heart wrenching expressions Jiriya had ever seen.

"I don't want to be a young man!" cried out Naruto. Whatever he had been keeping inside was finally bursting out. "I just want to be what I am on the inside!"

"Show me," said Jiriya simply.

"Huh?"

"Show me your true self, what you are on the inside," repeated Jiriya soothingly. "I would like to know."

"You would?" asked Naruto, hope in his eyes. "You promise not to find it weird?"

"I promise," replied Jiriya, leaning forward towards the boy and sticking his pinky out. Naruto stared at it for a moment, then wrapped his own finger around JIriyas. Jiriya smiled encouragingly at him and he disengaged. The blond boy stood up in the water, and made the hand signs for an illusion. Smoke erupted from the jutsu, and when it cleared, Jiriya had a hard time containing his surprise.

In front of him was no longer a boy but a girl. She wasn't like the usual female form Naruto would make with his Sexy Jutsu, but just a regular girl. She was slight of figure, but growing into more like any girl her age. Slight breasts, still lacking any real curves, she looked just like the girls JIriya had used to spy on when he was a kid going through puberty and trying to see what girls his age looked like. The girl had long blonde hair falling down her back and hopeful bright blue eyes, staring at him. The shy, mortified expression on her face told the old man how embarrassed she was doing this, but also how much she wanted to.

"What do you think?" asked the girl, her voice timid, afraid and hopeful. It wasn't the Naruto people usually thought of, brash, bold and loud, but it was him, or in this case, her.

He now realized what was going on with Naruto. The older ninja had once been hired for a mission by a man who had been in a similar situation. Younger, and less understanding Jiriya had thought him eccentric, possibly crazy. He had completed the mission and never seen or heard from the man again. Many years later on a rainy day after training some students he had thought back on the man, and regretted how he had dealt with things.

Jiriya looked at the girl in front of him and made up his mind.

"Honestly?" Jiriya cracked a smile. "You're one of the bravest Kunoichi I've ever had the pleasure to train, and I look forward to training you to take Tsunade's spot as Hokage."

Naruto's face brightened with happiness and some tears stared to flow down her face. Jiriya stood up and walked over to her as she wiped away the tears. He looked down at the blonde girl and put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him, curious. Another large round of giggling could be heard from the women's bath side.

"I have my first mission for you, do you think you're ready for it?" asked Jiriya.

"What's the mission?" asked Naruto, curiously. Now that she had gotten the secret off of her chest she seemed to be acting more like her usual self.

"As a kunoichi you'll need to be able to blend in with the natives, it'll be one of your greatest strengths. For this mission I want you to go and become friends with the girls over there," said Jiriya with a smile, pointing at the bath divider. "Do you think you could manage to have a good time doing so?"

Naruto's face positively lit up with excitement. She gave him a smile and a salute.

"Yes sir!" said the blonde girl, turning and running out of the men's bath, heading to go in through the other door.

"If you have any problems, I'll be over here if you need any help!" yelled Jiriya to the retreating girl. He saw her dress quickly in the changing room and then heard a door open and close hurriedly.

Jiriya slumped down into the water, enjoying the warm water on his skin. He was glad he had managed to keep any confusion or disgust out of his voice and expressions. As much of a front as he had put up, the whole situation was still weird to him. He was unused to thinking that something like this could be normal or healthy. But when he remembered the smile on Naruto's face when he had accepted her as she wanted to be, he felt that maybe it wasn't so wrong after all.

The older ninja activated a jutsu that increased his hearing and he leaned against the bath divider. The voices on the other side became recognizable and he estimated three young women to be on the other side. They were just talking about going to a festival when the door to the other side opened up. From the light, nervous footsteps and furiously beating heart JIriya guessed it was Naruto. He heard the sound of water splashing around as his pupil washed herself and finally entered the hot water.

The three girls continued to talk among themselves, Naruto keeping quiet.

"The festival is in two weeks and it'll probably get very busy here," said one of the girls.

"Ug!" replied a second. "That means we're going to be busy helping grandma run this place when all of the customers flood in from outside the town."

"I asked already and Grandma said we could go into town if we manage to do a good job," said a third voice.

"Yes!" yelled the first girl victoriously. "We'll need to pick out kimonos then! It's not a festival if you don't dress up!"

"Sounds like a lot of work," said the second lazily. "Why can't we just use the ones from last year?"

"We grew out of them over the year," replied the first girl.

"Kairi might have," smirked the second girl. "But you haven't grown any, especially your bust.

"Hey!"

"There's no need to get angry Riku," calmed the third girl who Jiriya guessed was Kairi. "Although you definitely need another kimono Sora, I can't believe how big your breasts have gotten!"

"Hey!" yelled the second girl, Sora. Jiriya heard splashing around and guessed a little old fashion groping was going on.

There was another yell and the sound of several people tripping and splashing into the water. Several cries of surprise and apology followed.

"I'm so sorry!" apologized Kairi. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," replied Naruto shyly.

I'm really sorry these two knuckleheads almost hurt you," said Riku. Two thunks and protests followed as the other two girls were hit over the head.

"Its fine," repeated Naurto.

"What brings you to our town?" asked Riku.

"I'm here with my grandfather to visit the hot springs," replied Naruto. Jiriya wondered if he should take offense at that or just be proud of the comment. He decided to take offense at the next comment though. "The pervy old man is probably trying to get a peek in here right now I bet."

"I hope not!" said Kairi.

"Don't worry, if I see anything out of order the old man will be seeing stars!" declared Sora.

The four girls all laughed at that. From there they continued to talk, introducing themselves to each other. Jiriya found it interesting when Naruto introduced himself as Naruko and filed the name away for later. They all continued to talk, joke and laugh happily. Jiriya could hear genuine mirth in his pupil's voice and was glad she was enjoying herself. He decided that when she was done bathing he would sit down and have a talk with her. As he had told her before, the ninja's body is their most important asset, and feeling comfortable in it was important. If Naruko wanted to become a girl for real, then they were going to need to head back to Konoha to research and talk to the Hokage Tsunade. There was probably no one else better suited to help the blonde girl, and he hoped his old friend would understand.


	3. Tsunade

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Naruto.

 

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**Chapter 3: Tsunade**

* * *

Hokage Tsunade, the fifth person to have the title of 'Fire Shadow', granddaughter to the first Hokage and the first woman to the title. She had recently come into her position after the death of her predecessor due to an attack on the village by her former teammate Orochimaru. The defection of a high value asset recently to said former teammate hadn't made her life any easier. The job of rebuilding the village was hers and it was starting to wear her out. She gave a sigh as she walked towards her office, dreading the large stack of paper work that was no doubt demanding her attention. After getting done with assigning some advanced chakra manipulation exercises to her newest pupil, she had taught a lesson on medical jutsu to a class of chunin and assisted in a sudden emergency surgery on a man stabbed in a bar fight.

Tsunade sensed a presence she recognized as her old friend/teammate/pain in the ass, Jiriya. That aroused her suspicion because the man was supposed to be out on a training journey with his newest pupil, Naruto. Now on guard, she entered the office and saw Jiriya sitting in one of the guest chairs, reading a book. He looked up at her and gave a smile, closing the book.

"Surprised to see me so soon?" he asked, standing up.

"A little," she admitted. "You just left a few days ago, is there a reason you returned already? Did something happen to Naruto?"

"Something happened WITH that energetic new student of mine," clarified Jiriya. "But it's nothing world ending like getting grievously injured or the Kyuubi being set free."

"Then why are you here?" asked Tsunade tiredly. She really wanted to just take a short nap before getting to the piles of work sitting on her desk directly in front of her. Jiriya's dancing around the subject was annoying, but it also told her that something important was going on and he was just building up to broach the tough subject with her. "Where is Naruto? Did you drop him off somewhere?"

"She's resting in her apartment, keeping a low profile," he replied. Tsunade thought she must have misheard him for a moment due to sleepiness.

"Did you say she?"

"Yes, I did," he clarified.

"Did you let that moron get hit by some weird sex change justsu or something?" asked Tsunade with a sigh. She was way too tired to deal with crazy jutsu's at the moment.

"No, although if she had, it would make this situation much easier," replied Jiriya, his face serious. He held up the book in his hands. "Do you recognize this?"

"That's a book of mental illnesses from my shelf," answered Tsunade, wondering where this was going. "What about it?"

"A particular entry from here, Gender Identity Disorder, do you know about it?"

"Of course. Gender identity disorder is when a person feels they should have been born as the opposite gender and that their body is wrong."

"Your thoughts on it?" asked Jiriya, obviously fishing for an answer. Tsunade gave another tired sigh.

"I think you should be explaining yourself," she replied. "Now, what is this about and what does it have to do with Naruto? I have a lot of work to do and your dancing around the issue isn't making me any more inclined to assist you."

"I'll explain, but first can you please answer the question?"

"Fine," she sighed. "I disagree with the diagnosis in the book and feel that it shouldn't be included there as a mental illness. Now what's the problem?"

"The problem is," sighed Jiriya, putting the book down on the chair, "when I took Naruto to a hot spring for training I discovered a secret he had been keeping. Apparently he feels he should have been born as a girl, and that having a male body is wrong."

"Ah," said Tsunade simply. She was starting to understand the problem a bit. She walked around her desk and sat down in her chair, gesturing Jiriya to take a seat. Tsunade gave another tired sigh. "Of course it had to be Naruto with this problem. The boy already has enough problems and now this?"

"Call her Naruko please," interrupted Jiriya. "I found talking to her that she prefers to be called so."

"I see. So you really believe that Naruko feels that she should be a girl instead of a boy? This isn't just some type of phase or crisis I'm guessing if you're bringing it to my attention."

"I asked and questioned every possible way about the tiniest detail. She's apparently been feeling like this for several years now. It turns out that her famous forays into peeking into bath houses were actually research to see what it was like as a girl."

"So she understands that being a perverted prankster is much more approved of in our society than what she is?"

"Yes, she seems to know it all too well," replied Jiriya.

Tsunade leaned back in her chair and shut her eyes for a moment, thinking.

"And I'm guessing you're here talking to me and reading that book because you want to know if there's a way to actually change her from a male body to a female body?"

"Yes. I figured as the expert in medical affairs that you are there wouldn't be anyone more suited for the question." Jiriya gave a slight frown. "Except for maybe Orochimaru. It wouldn't surprise me if he had figured something out from all of his experiments, but he's the last person I would ask or expect any help from."

"And you think I might know of such a jutsu?"

"Ideally I'm hoping you might, or at least be able to direct us to someone who does."

Tsunade leaned forward in her seat, staring intently right into Jiriya's eyes, studying the man.

"I travelled around the world for many years after Orochimaru left the village. Studied with any type of doctor or medicine man or hermit with an interesting remedy that I could find. There was one point where I came across a man who felt he had been born in the wrong body. This man wished to be a woman and was close to discovering the secret when I met him. His ideas and methods were novel, both interesting and kind of disturbing at the time. I assisted with the research and together we completed the jutsu."

"What happened to the man?" asked Jiriya. "Did the jutsu work?"

"The night we were going to test it a flood broke out in the nearby town. I left to assist the townsfolk in saving their village. When I returned, Natsu had attempted to work the jutsu on his own without my assistance. I guess Natsu had just gotten impatient after waiting all of those years. She was there, lying on the floor. Undeniably Natsu, undeniably female and undeniably dead. There were no next of kin and no will. I buried the body, erected a grave, and packed up Natsu's belongings and took them with me. She lived simply, and most of her belongings were books and journals on the subject of the problem that had afflicted her."

"Did you ever complete the jutsu?" asked Jiriya curiously.

"No. I still have the journal, but I haven't messed with the jutsu."

"Why not?"

"Bad memories," admitted Tsunade. "It's also impossible for me to truly test it. The chakra energy needed to power this is immense, and probably what killed Natsu. It's also very likely that the changes could be irreversible, unable to be changed even by using it again."

"Do you think we could get it to work?"

"No," said Tunade firmly. "The jutsu is dangerous and I'm not going to allow its use for Naruto. Especially for Naruto. We don't know what this type of change could cause for the Kyuubi's seal. The risk of everything is too high."

"Please," begged Jiriya. "Naruko needs this to move on and advance as a ninja. She has greatness in her, but I fell that if she doesn't get this, it will never be developed to its full potential."

"Naruto should just give up pretending to be a woman and just live as the man he is!" yelled Tsunade furiously. Jiriya looked at her neutrally, studying her. He frowned.

"Is that what you really believe?" he asked.

"Yes, yes it is."

"And what about the other people with the same problem, should they all just suck it up also?"

"Yes."

"Do you know how many ninja alone have committed suicide and later found to have thought they should be the opposite gender? They took a way out of the society that would never accept them, and you're going to just pass up a chance to help them?"

"Don't talk to me like I don't know all of this!" roared Tsunade. "I've seen the reports and bodies! Slit wrists, hung from the ceiling and having swallowed coals! These are just a few of the deaths! I know there's probably several in service currently that feel awkward about what they are! I know all of this already! Don't think I don't care, I do! I love the people who I'm in charge of, but I don't want to put others at risk to just help this small group!"

"It's not about that," said Jiriya. "You're scared of failing again, like with Natsu. You're accepting what society has dictated for these people and ignoring their plight. They're part of our society too! They're your charges! You can't just ignore them out of fear! Together, we can make things right. Now that you're the Hokage you have resources you never did before. If we can solve this, make these people happy, then surely everyone will be better off for it."

Jiriya held out his hand and gave her an inviting smile.

"If we work together, we can help Naruko and all of these others. I know I can't do this without you. Even if you gave me the journals I doubt I could figure things out. Your medical expertise is necessary. I can help you perfect the jutsu and get a hold of information you might not know about. What do you say?" he asked, his hand still outstretched.

Tsunade stared at his hand for a while, her mind a whirlpool of thoughts and emotions. Natsu's smiling face as he worked on perfecting the justsu. Natsu's smiling face as she lay dead from the jutsu. The faces of all of the suicides she had seen linked to not being accepted. Some peaceful, some grotesque, all of them tragic. And finally, Tsunade saw Naruto's smiling face which had convinced her to return to the village as Hokage. The thought of the pain the boy; no, the girl must be going through bothered her, and she knew she couldn't let things stay the same.

Tsunade reached out and grabbed Jiriya's hand, embracing it firmly. She gave him a smile.

"I accept, we start tomorrow," she said. She gave him a devious smile. "But first, you need to help me with all of this."

She gestured to the stacks of paper and Jiriya let out a groan of pain. In the morning when her aid Shizune came in with another stack of papers she was greeted by the sight of Tsunade and Jiriya both resting with their heads on the desk, the pile of paperwork finally gone for the first time since Tsunade had become Hokage. The aid dropped the papers carefully into an empty chair and vacated the room, curious but also smiling at her master's antics.


	4. Sakura

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

 

* * *

**Chapter 4: Sakura**

* * *

Sakura's hands glowed as she attempted the newest jutsu taught to her by Lady Tsunade. The fish lying on top of the scroll flopped to life, it's breathing prolonged for another few minutes. The pink haired girl gave a sigh of relief. Healing jutsu were very advanced and very uncommon. They took a lot of training and a lot of concentration. Before Lady Tsunade had returned there had only been a handful of medical ninja. Now, a new squad was being trained under her and her aid Shizune's lead. Sakura was one of those new recruits, being trained separately and personally by the Hokage. She also acted as a personal aid at times, but there had been less of those lately. Lady Tsunade had been working on something privately away from her new apprentice and Sakura was curious about what it was.

She carefully picked up the fish which was slowing in its motions and dropped it into its tank. She watched as the fish swam to safety away from her. Giving a sigh she started to tidy up the office. Lady Tsunade was always so busy and her office lent itself towards chaos. She wondered where the room's owner was today, but knew that if she was meant to know, she would have been told.

As she was trashing a half-finished bowl of ramen, Sakura suddenly felt a massive surge of chakra. The magnitude of it was on a level she hadn't felt since fighting Garaa of the Desert. Like then she felt an instinctive sense of fear and dread. The sense was muffled, so it seemed to her to be far away. The sensation went away just as quickly as it had appeared though. Looking out the window she saw that even normal civilians had stopped in the street, dumbfounded by the sensation. Several officials barged into the room, not even bothering to knock.

"Lady Tsunade!" yelled a long robed official who's name Sakura had never learned. He and his entourage stopped short when they realized that the Hokage wasn't in her office. "Where is Lady Tsunade?"

"I don't know," answered Sakura honestly. "She's been out all morning."

"Doing what?" questioned another official angrily.

"I do not know," replied Sakura, keeping her annoyance in check.

The officials started to mutter among themselves. Sakura ignored them and continued to clean. After several minutes of doing nothing but talking, Sakura was tempted to try to kick them out of the room, but she saw a familiar head of blonde hair walking down the hallway, just visible over the mob.

"Lady Tsunade!" she called out, startling the officials.

"Hello Sakura," greeted Tsunade, ignoring the officials as she walked over to her desk. She sat down tiredly, but she had a smile on her face. Finally she looked up and acted like she had just noticed the officials. "Hello, to what do I owe this honor?"

The first official walked forward and cleared his throat.

"We were just concerned over an event several minutes ago," he said, his tone much more polite than before. "Even the non-trained members of the city were able to feel a massive surge of chakra. We headed up here as soon as it happened but found you absent from your office, and have been patiently waiting after the girl here told us she didn't know where you were."

"Her name is Sakura," said Tsunade with menace in her voice. "I assure you that there is nothing to worry about, since it was an experiment being supervised by me. I apologize for any undo panic, but I can assure you that everything was a success and now there is a new jutsu able to be used for the good of the village."

Whatever this new jutsu was, Tsunade seemed to be extremely pleased with the result, and was actually smiling. The officials looked like they wanted me information, so Sakura was already preparing to leave when Tsunade dismissed her with a sigh.

"You may have the rest of the day off, we'll pick up actual lessons tomorrow in the morning at the usual time," said Tsunade.

Sakura exited the room, shutting the door behind her. She gave a sigh, and walked out of the Hokage tower, just enjoying the nice weather. She realized she smelled like fish.  _I think I'll go take a bath then_. Changing her course to the nearest bathhouse Sakura started to hum to herself. At the bathhouse she paid at the desk, stored her clothes into a locker in the changing room and walked into the girls' bath. Sakura looked around the almost empty bath and was surprised to spot a familiar face.

"Hey Hinata!" she called out. She saw the black haired girl turn her head from where she was sitting rubbing soap onto herself and stare at Sakura with her usual piercing gaze.

"Hello Sakura," replied Hinata. Since the Chunin tournament they had spent several days off just hanging out together with Ino and the girls had gotten much closer. Sakura was glad for this fact because it meant that the black haired girl stuttered much less around her now. Of course, Hinata also tended to stutter less when not surrounded by either Naruto, her cousin Neji or her father. Sakura walked over and joined her, rinsing off and starting to rub soap over her body.

"So what are you doing here?" asked Sakura. "Doesn't your family have their own bathhouse?"

"I just needed to get out of the house for a bit," replied Hinata in her usual quiet tones. She looked down at the floor and Sakura guessed that she was probably having some trouble with her father again. He was a bit harsh in his methods, and Sakura could understand how tough that had to be on the shy girl.

Sakura and Hinata rinsed the soap off of themselves and stood up to walk over to the hot water bath. They dropped into the warm water with simultaneous sighs of relief. Neither were in a very talkative mood at the moment, so they just relaxed. Just sitting and watching the flow of people in the bath house, Sakura's eye caught someone who looked familiar.

"Hey Hinata," she said, nudging the other girl. "Do you know who that girl over there is? She seems familiar but I can't remember who she is."

Hinata followed Sakura's finger and looked at the blonde haired girl who was currently nervously rubbing soap onto herself. The veins around the black haired girl's eyes bulged to show that she had activated her Byakugyan, the all-seeing eyes inherited from her clan. She let out a short gasp, and Sakura was surprised by the name that escaped her lips.

"Naruto?" whispered Hinata, confused.

Sakura realized she shouldn't be surprised at her perverted teammate's actions. He had snuck into bathhouses and hot springs to peep on girls before, although he was being much more subtle this time. Using disguise arts to pretend to be a girl? That was a new stroke of genius for him. Now that she knew it was Naruto, she could see the resemblance. She stood up and cracked her knuckles.

"Time to punish that perverted moron," she said to Hinata.

"Sakura, wait," said Hinata, but Sakura was already walking away, ignoring her.

Sakura walked over to the blonde girl who was dumping a bucket of water over her head to rinse off to the soap. When she was a few feet away she called out.

"Hey Naruto!" she shouted. The blonde haired girl looked up at her instinctively and Sakura saw Naruto's familiar blue eyes light up first in recognition and then in horror. Sakura was already pulling her fist back and drawing chakra into it, a suitable punishment she felt. She punched, aiming for Naruto's chest before he had a chance to respond.

"Sakura! No!" yelled HInata, who was suddenly next to her. At a blinding speed Hinata's hands shot out and Sakura felt her chakra pathways closed by her soft fist technique. The black haired girl blocked the now weakened punch. "That's not a disguise jutsu!"

"Huh?" asked Sakura confused. She looked from the now scared girl who looked like Naruto to Hinata. "So this isn't Naruto then?"

"It's not a disguise jutsu," repeated Hinata. She looked at the not-Naruto, confused. "But your chakra patterns are the same. Who are you?"

The blonde girl was looking around nervously, and Sakura saw that they had attracted some attention. Her personality seemed completely different from Naruto's, but she just looked so similar. The same blue eyes, color of hair and now that Sakura was closer, the same tattoo on her stomach. Her body though was definitely female, with developing hips and breasts, she looked like any other girl their age. Her hair was longer than Naruto had ever had it, currently wet and falling down her back. She was as short as Naruto though, Sakura mused.

"Can we talk somewhere else?" asked the blonde girl nervously. "I can explain everything somewhere else."

"Sure," replied Sakura, "Let's go."

They exited the bath, dried off and dressed in the locker room. The blonde girl put on regular girls' underwear, bra and panties, and a summer dress of a familiar bright orange. She tied up her hair in twin tails and belted on a Konoha ninja headband around her waist in a similar style to the way Sakura's friend Ino wore hers. She looked just like a regular girl. Hinata couldn't seem to take her eyes off of the girl, and every so often the veins around her eyes bulged indicating the Byagukan being activated.

"Let's talk at my place," said the blonde girl. She led them out of the bath house, greeting the lady at the front desk cheerfully, a smile on her face. When they left the smile disappeared, but Sakura was struck yet again by the resemblance to Naruto that the smile brought out. The three girls walked down the streets and Sakura started to recognize the part of town they were in. When they arrived at a familiar apartment building, Sakura knew something weird was going on.

"Up here," said the girl, gesturing to Naruto's apartment.

Sakura didn't say anything, figuring she wouldn't get answers to the mystery until the girl was ready to tell her. They walked up the steps to the third floor and stopped outside of Naruto's apartment. The blonde girl took out her key, opened the door and gestured inside.

"Come on in," said the girl, walking inside.

Sakura walked in, followed by Hinata, who closed the door behind her. The blonde girl cleared books and scrolls off of two of the kitchen chairs, and sat down at the third already empty chair. Sakura and Hinata both took their seats and looked at the girl expectantly.

The blonde girl looked at them hesitantly. She seemed to make up her mind after a minute and took a deep breath.

"My name is Naruko Uzimaki," said the girl.

"Naruko Uzimaki?" replied Sakura, trying out the name. "So does that mean you're related to Naruto somehow? I thought he didn't have any living relatives?"

The blonde girl gave a sigh.

"I was-am-Naruto Uzimaki," she said, her face deathly serious.

"Wait, was?" asked Sakura confused.

"I always saw myself as a girl," admitted Naruko. "Since I was young, I knew there was something wrong with my body. I hid it because people wouldn't accept me."

Something occurred to Sakura.

"So those times you peeked into the bath houses and changing rooms were…"

"Research," said Naruko with a small smile. People are much more accepting of a silly trickster than a transsexual.

Sakura reviewed all of her knowledge of and experiences with Naruto. This new revelation seemed so at odds with what she had considered as "Naruto", but it also fit. She didn't really know what to think. The situation was new and weird to her. She hadn't really had a grudge or been bigoted towards transsexuals, but the presence of one from a teammate and friend was jarring. She briefly wondered what Hinata was thinking. The black haired girl had been very quiet the whole time, just watching and listening. Sakura knew that she had a very obvious crush on Naruto, at least obvious to everyone but Naruto. Thinking about crushes, she suddenly had an epiphany.

"You had a crush on Sasuke, didn't you?" she said, referring to their renegade teammate. She herself was head over heels for the suave black haired boy, as were many of the girls their age. Naruto had been very close to Sasuke and risked his life to try to bring him back to the village. With her new knowledge of Naruto's, Naruko's, condition, the conclusion made sense. Naruko's reaction completely surprised her.

"No way!" denied Naruko, rather strongly. "He's just a friend!" The blonde girl calmed down a bit and then blushed. "I'm actually attracted to girls…"

"But if you're a girl, shouldn't you be attracted to guys?" she asked, confused.

"I'm a lesbian I guess," replied Naruko.

"Are you sure you aren't just confused about something?"

"I know my body!" said Naruko angrily, startling Sakura. Tears were starting to well up in the blonde girl's eyes. "Do you how confusing it was for me! I knew without a doubt that I liked girls, but I also knew just as much that deep inside I wasn't what I was born as! There was no one I could talk to! No books or scrolls to refer to! The best I could find was an old medical journal that listed my 'condition' as a mental disease!"

At the earnest pain in Naruko's voice Sakura regretted saying what she had. It occurred to her that Naruto's whole life had been a fight for acceptance, a fight that was still ongoing. He had many, many reasons for people to hate and fear him, none of which were his fault. It's how he was born as, and he had been working his hardest since he could understand what was going on. Before she could apologize though he was surprised by the sound of a chair scraping on the floor as Hinata stood up.

"I think that you are amazing!" blurted Hinata as she stood up.

Naruko and Sakura just stared at the usually quiet black haired girl in disbelief at her outburst. She blushed a deep red as she realized what she had done, but still managed to stutter out some more words.

"I-I mean…you've always been amazing to me. Y-you try your hardest a-at everything. You are headstrong, but I don't believe that you would rush into this without knowing exactly what you wanted. If you think you are a lesbian, then I believe you are probably right! You know yourself and you're willing to stand up for yourself." she blushed even redder somehow. "A-and that's why I love you!"

Naruko just gaped open mouthed at Hinata.

"Hinata…" she said, lost for words.

"A-and I d-don't care that you're a girl either!" continued Hinata, in a rush to get her words out before she wasn't able to anymore. "To me, you are and will always be more handsome and cute and beautiful than anyone else!"

The three girls sat in stunned silence for a few minutes, each unsure of what to say. Suddenly Naruko started to sob, tears pouring down her face. Sakura and Hinata both moved to comfort her, but the blonde girl held up her hand.

"I-I'm fine!" she reassured them through tears. "I-I'm just so happy to hear your words Hinata. I was so afraid no one would understand. And I never expected anyone to ever say those words to me. They mean so much to me to hear…"

The tears just continued to pour out, but Sakura saw a smile on Naruko's face. Sakura didn't know what to say, so she just sat there in silence, waiting for the tears to stop. Sakura wondered if Hinata was going to go over and hug Naruko for comfort, but the black haired girl had apparently used up all of her courage for the moment. She sat back down and joined Sakura in silence. After a few minutes Naruko calmed down and looked at them with puffy red eyes and a large smile on her face.

"So," said Sakura, taking the initiative. "What are you going to do now? Weren't you on a training journey with Jiriya?"

"I guess we'll probably continue the journey," replied Naruko, turning thoughtful. "We were going to train my body first, to make sure everything was balanced and that I was comfortable with myself. I guess now that I'm comfortable with my body, we'll continue where we left off."

"H-how long are you going to be gone?" asked Hinata.

"We have roughly three years before Sasuke is in danger of getting his body stolen by Orochimaru, so I guess anywhere from a week to two years, I don't really know."

"Do you think you'll be fine with that perverted master of yours?" asked Sakura, trying to make conversation like she would with Hinata or Ino. She still had the image of Naruto as a boy in her head and it was hard to dispel, but she felt she owed it to Naruko to treat her like she would any other girl. "I've heard stories from Lady Tsunade about his…exploits."

"I'll be fine," replied Naruko with a cocky grin. "If he tries anything I'll make him regret it."

They all laughed at that. The conversation devolved into talking Naruko's likes and dislikes, something Sakura had never cared about before when she was a boy. She was shocked to discover the girl's preferences for clothes and that she was actually very recent and fashionable. Hinata mostly sat out the conversation, just listening, only occasionally supplying a question, answer or statement.

Sakura only realized how much time had passed when the light turned orange. Looking outside she saw the Sun slowly retreating behind the mountains, leaving streaks of purple and orange in its wake. She needed to get home for dinner so she stood up and excused herself.

"I'm sorry to say it, but I need to head home," said Sakura, slightly surprised to realize that she actually was sorry to leave.

"I-I should probably head home also," said Hinata sadly, standing up.

"No problem," replied Naruko, standing up to let them out. "I really appreciate that you two were so understanding and spent so much time talking to me. It really did mean a lot to me."

Sakura walked out of the apartment first, followed by Hinata. She started to wave good bye, but Hinata stopped walking and turned to face Naruko.

"I-I just want to ask you something before you leave on your journey again," she said, making a noticeable effort to overcome fear to force the words out.

"Yes?" asked Naruko.

"W-wou-would-would you," stuttered Hinata. She stopped talking, took a deep breath and then blurted out her question. "Would you please be my girlfriend?!"

Once again, Sakura and Naruko were caught off guard by the black haired girl. Sakura just watched as Naruko openly gaped at Hinata for a few moments before managing a response.

"Yes!" she exclaimed.

She rushed forward and hugged Hinata, startling the shy girl at first. Hinata's face turned a bright red as she tried to figure out what to do with her arms. Naruko seemed to realize what she had done and disengaged, her own face tunring bright red.

"I mean, if you don't mind waiting," she said, composing herself. "I'll probably be gone for a while and not able to meet or message you."

"Its fine," replied Hinata, giving a shy smile.

Sakura found the whole situation amusing and couldn't help but interject at that moment.

"Just make sure that when you do return you go and see Hinata first!" said Sakura. "If you're are dating you always need to put the girl first!"

"But we're both girls!" complained Naruko, apparently understanding that Sakura was just joking around with her.

"Then I guess that means you two will both have to put each other first," replied Sakura, winking at Hinata. "Well, we'd better head home before dinner gets cold. Make sure you eat healthy tonight and on your trip Naruko."

Sakura walked away, followed closely by Hinata. She heard Naruko wish them a good night and walked back into her apartment, closing the door. As they walked down the apartment steps neither girl said a word, both thinking about the day's events. At the ground floor they separated, their homes in different directions. Sakura wondered if Naruko would be fine on her journey and if Hinata's family would be able to accept that their daughter was dating another girl. Honestly, with what she knew of Hinata's father he probably wouldn't have accepted the relationship even if Naruto was still a boy.

Everyone was going to face many hardships in the years to come, that she knew. They were ninja of the village, that meant challenges and dangers were always waiting just around the corner. They would need to train hard and fight for their lives many times. Danger was gathering, but Sakura still felt happy knowing that even in such a difficult, dangerous world dreams could be achieved. Even if she died while training, heaven forbid, she had still managed to move forward and achieve her dream.

Even Hinata had managed to take several large steps forward, and her courage was impressive. Their example gave Sakura hope that one day they really would bring Sasuke back to the village. She might even be able to honestly confess her love to him. Impress him, gain his respect. Become an equal instead of baggage. With her hope renewed, Sakura headed home, new life in her steps. In the morning she would rise early to train, and she would work her hardest to make her dreams come true.


End file.
